Our version
by Yabai Korra
Summary: After 'The Last'. Ino wants to thank Sasuke for saving her life, Sasuke doesn't care. What would happen if she was the one to follow him on his travels? Will he open up to her, will she be able to help him? How will the future of the Uchiha clan unfold?


**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, takes place after the movie Naruto the Last, please let me know what you think.**

Sasuke turned back one last time to his once home, the one he didn't want to return to, at least not it the near future. Naruto and Hinata saved the Earth, and he helped in protecting the village, his job was done. He wasn't in a hurry though, he walked pretty slowly after he passed the village's exit. He looked up into the dark sky, the moon was shining like it should and was in a perfect place, all thanks to Naruto and Hinata. "Sasuke!" A female voice called and he stopped, hearing the footsteps approaching him. Although it's been two years and it seemed to have matured, became more serious but still feminine, Sasuke found it familiar. Turning around, he saw whom he expected. She was wearing the purple top and the matching skirt, her blonde hair was loosely handing behind her back, almost reaching the ground, and doing a pretty good job of hiding her backpack.

"What do you want?" He asked, not even sure why he was bothering talking to her.

"I just wanted to thank you, if you didn't destroy that boiling rock that was directed to me and Kakashi, I would be dead now." She answered with a stoic yet friendly expression, keeping her head up and not changing her tone of speaking. He expected her to talk with more joy in her voice, like he remembers her to, not that he cared about it.

"I was protecting the village." Sasuke said with usual coldness and with no emotion whatsoever.

"Well, thanks anyway." Ino offered a small smile and got the dull eyes and silence from him, not that she expected something more, it was Sasuke Uchiha after all. Turning on his heel, he was about to leave but then she started talking again. "Why are you leaving so soon?"

"I have no reason to be here." He replied without facing her, already annoyed by this useless conversation. He didn't need to explain himself to her. He didn't need to explain himself to _anyone_.

"So you'll be traveling?" Sasuke didn't see the point in stating the obvious so he just carried on, almost already forgetting about the blonde.

Although her footsteps were quiet, she moved like a ninja _and_ a lady should, he was still able to hear them and sense her presence following him. After few seconds she was next to him and they walked side by side for a whole minute before he spoke again. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think?" Ino asked cockily. "I'm going with you."

A small and bitter laugh escaped Uchiha's lips and she frowned, although it was weird hearing it from him. "You must be joking."

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Her tone changed to even more serious one. They were already far enough from the village's exit and were soon to enter the forest.

"This is a journey to atone for my sins." He said boldly, considering just running off, he was faster than her, but really didn't feel like behaving like a child.

"Don't you think you already did that? I mean, the war probably wouldn't end without you, and you helped today as well. Don't you think it's enough?" He thought about it for a second and found her to be right, but he really didn't want to have this kind of conversation, not now, and especially with her. After he remained silent she stood in front of him with her arms spread. "Hey, I asked you something."

"Tsk, like I need to explain myself to you. Now, get out of my way." She looked angry for a moment but eventually moved, but continued walking beside him rather than going back to her village. "What exactly do you want, Ino?" He asked with a hint of anger and annoyance in his voice, it sounded more like a hiss.

"I want to help you, Sasuke." She said in a more quiet tone that held some compassion and gentleness. "I want to talk to you, I want to listen to you, and I know I can't fully understand you, I doubt anyone can, but I _can_ help."

The way she talked sounded almost tempting, different from the others. Karin was always the one that wanted to talk to him about his personal things, but things that were set in the future, his goals and ideals. She wasn't there to witness his family's massacre nor his relationship with his brother and he felt no need to explain it to her. Sakura didn't care much for talking as long as she got to do something with him, but he remembers clearly years ago when he was leaving the village, she said that he never _tells_ her anything, as though he was obliged to. For a difference from Karin, she did have the opportunity to understand him better, which she didn't seize. And now here was Ino, wanting to talk about his past. He often wanted someone to hear his side of the story, but that is behind him now, he is not a traumatized boy anymore. "I don't need it." He shrugged and picked up his pace.

"You can't live in the present nor dream of the future if you have unsolved problems in the past." She said in a cold tone, yet loud enough for him to hear it.

He stood on the spot for a moment. He knew it damn well, after all, he was the one to say _'I don't look into the future, only the past'_. "I've dealt with my past." He stated when she caught up to him and they entered the first. The white moonlight allowed them to see their way through the trees.

"Cleary not all of it."

"Why do you want to help me anyway?" He asked, preparing to make a fast leave, he had enough of her, but he was still curious about her answer though.

Ino looked down for a moment, facing the ground but being careful with her walk. "It's just that, I guess, since I was a kid, I just wanted to help people, and you were always the only one to refuse my help." As she mumbled the last part of the sentence, she remembered the image of her offering him the flower of friendship after his family's massacre, the same flashback appearing in Sasuke's mind as well.

"You're kind," He said with his usual voice being the tiniest bit sofer. "but you're spending it on a wrong person."

"Oh, we'll see about that." Ino declared with a smug smirk on her face.

"This is a big forest, I could just run off." Sasuke stated, seriously considering it for the third time.

"And I'm the best sensor in Five Great Nations, I'll find you, no matter how far you run or how well you hide. And I won't give up, because you're precious to me, Sasuke."

"And what will you do once you find me?" Sasuke asked out of pure curiosity, already making the map in his head while observing the trees. He was trying to ignore the last sentence, he really didn't know why, he just did.

"Nothing, I will just follow you until you need me, like a guardian angel." She shrugged and jumped over a tree root.

"That won't happen."

"Wanna bet?" Ino asked slyly and put her hands on her hips.

"Bring it on, Yamanaka." With that being said, Sasuke wandered off far away, escaping her sight in a few moments. But know what they say, two can play that game. And both of them intend to win it, playing with no fear at all. She just wanted to melt the ice around his heart, but can something so broken be fixed? Well, you never know until you try.

 **Please let me know what you think.**


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